Some teams did their bit on the international scene yesterday. Others will have their chance today. I’m anticipating Samson Siasia’s first game in charge tonight even if it’s against Sierra Leone. I’ll also have half an eye on the fixture where the teams playing have crosses in their flags with similar colours. The home side has a white cross on a red background while the away side has a red flag on a white background.
The away side has a rare gem that will be unraveled again tonight. That rare gem is a young lad with an old brain. Jack “Whizkhid” Wilshere.
We all know how it started for this young man. Reserve team football, Emirates Cup, Bolton, boom!
He even has 2 goals to his name this season. The cheeky “mini” lob in that 5-1 mauling of Dudu Composure’s Shakhtar and the nerve settler against Aston Villa.
Wilshere has let the media , managers and his teammates do the talking for him. He has been doing his on the field of play.
He has worked extremely hard to make the holding role his. In Football Manager 2011 ™ he has 6 playable positions. I guess a 7th will be added in the next edition.
He earned himself a red against Birmingham and has been very outstanding since his return. The red card was quite “welcome” because he used that period to recuperate a bit. With Song, Denilson and Diaby still struggling with injuries and suspensions, the Whizkhid will be used a lot as the games come fast.
Capello compared him to Baresi, Raul and Maldini in the days of their youth because he “managed” them. These 3 players have written their names in the football history books. Maldini was the most capped Itie with 126 appearances before the Shortest ever World Player of the Year surpassed his record. Raul’s Champions League goal scoring record is second to none. Capello says that young Jack plays with confidence and without fear. He also said that there’s room for “improvement”.
French footballer of the year, Samir “El Rufai” Nasri had some sweet words for his teammate. He says,” I like Jack as a player, he is never scared. I like his attitude and he reminds me a bit of me when I was younger. He is a great, great, great prospect”.
The word “prospect” is an understatement for a player of Wilshere’s immense quality. At 19, he’s already likened to Arsenal legend Liam Brady and England great Paul Gascoigne.
It’s one thing to have talent. It’s another to be level headed and work hard to show the World what you’re all about. We all know how Denilson, Vela, Bentley and the rest of the other younglings were when they were 19. We also know how Pique, Messi, Fabregas and Toni Kroos were when they were 19 too.
The media Vultures known as the English Press play a major role in English football. They link a club to a certain player, formulate all sort of stories and in most cases the player ends up in that club. They also put words in some managers mouth and sometimes go as far as “giving” them a team. When Theo Walcott was 16, he was labeled as the next star in the making. We are seeing the “end product” of that now but the media Vultures played a role in Walcott boarding the plane to Germany in 2006. He didn’t even get a game in that World Cup. He also missed the 2010 World Cup because his boss preferred one-dimensional wingers to him.
One player that understands the “Walcott approach” is our tallest outfield player, Nicklas “Wald Bezt” Bendtner.
He says,”Theo can be a lesson for the way you treat Jack. It’s important to take it easy and realise he is a kid…Youngsters are always put under a lot of pressure very early in England but Jack can be a great, great player for his country”.
Kudos to Jack Wilshere for getting himself into the limelight for all the right reasons.
Nicklas Bendtner also took some time out to talk about his Arsenal “future”.
He says,”I have a lot of feelings for Arsenal and it means something great to me. I would be sad to leave it but you have to think about yourself and, with the career goals I have, I cannot be sitting on the bench. Hopefully, I will be there next season as well but we have to wait and see. But if my situation at Arsenal doesn’t change, I’ll have to look at it because I want to play football”.
I understand were he’s coming from. This was the player that saved our skins a lot last season with so many vital late goals. He nursed a groin injury that plagued him for months. After undergoing an operation after the World Cup he was sidelined for almost 4 months. Chamakh also came along for free and did extremely well in him and rVp’s absense.
He scored 27 goals in his last 2 seasons with us. He has the technique and “confidence” to back him up but he has to understand that in Arsenal FC, patience is key.
There were many players that left us to go for “green pastures” but they found out that the grass isn’t that green on the other side. There’ll be no need to start mentioning players because we all know that the list is “endless”.
But as always…..In AW the Alchemist we trust.
Concerning the knee injury to Johan Djourou, there’s good news.
He’ll be out to the amount of days you’ll live for after watching that video tape in the horror flick, “The Ring”
7 days.
Speaking of 7 days, FC BarcAliens visit Mother Emirates Earth
Enjoy the game between the “crosses”
Sayonara
